Junior Coaching: Strike – The Golf Shack Academy
PGA Professionals Andrew Simmonds and Philip Akers talk us through their approach to coaching junior golf.
Today we will be looking at strike.
Junior coaching in golf can raise many questions. What’s the most effective way to get the best out of your kids, and how can we keep them interested in the great game of golf? This is because the approach to coaching juniors is different to that of coaching adults.
Andrew Simmonds and Phillip Akers from The Belfry have it all figured out with their junior coaching programmes.
In this video, Andrew and Phil discuss their strike drills with the Pro down at the Shack.
Strike
Golf juniors often find problems with clubs, because they can be too heavy or too long. Kids like to see the ball go up in the air but will struggle with striking the ball out of the middle of club.
The activity we use to teach kids about strike is ‘the smiley face game’. Firstly in this game the kids make a face, using balls, of their parents or playing partners.
The reason for this is to teach the kids to learn the different directions that the club head is travelling to miss the other golf balls and so the aim is to get through all of the golf balls without hitting another one.
Finally, it’s possible to start to make the game more complex by getting the kids to swing the club under a piece of string or stick because this helps them to figure out the low point and which direction the club is travelling in.
We would recommend to parent’s that they encourage what’s known as ‘the growth mindset’ so that they aren’t disheartened if they fail at the challenge and are encouraged to keep trying.
About… Andrew and Phil
Andrew Simmonds is a PGA Professional with over 10 years of coaching experience. He taught at The Darren Clarke Golf School in Northern Ireland and then went on to complete the Advanced Certificate in Golf Coaching at the University of Birmingham, specialising in research of participation/drop rates in youth sport.
Andrew now consults with other PGA Professionals on how to run effective golf coaching programmes.
Phillip Akers is a Senior PGA National Academy Coach & Director of Junior Golf at The Belfry. Phillip specialises in Junior Development and coaches some of the finest junior golfers in the U.K.
Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
